My wife likes to use a little fan-forced heater in the fall/spring when we don't have the pellet stove running. My mother-in-law went out and bought her a brand new one because it would be "more efficient". Of course, the old one is only 8 or 9 years old...and they both consume the same 1500 watts as something from the 50's.

Very true *IF* the older heater still consumes 1500 Watts... as has been said here, "1500 Watts is 1500 Watts". The gotcha is that over time, some heaters (such as the "ceramic" models) increase in resistance and no longer draw 1500 Watts. Over 5 winters of use, one that I have has dropped to about 725 Watts, as measured on a kill-a-watt meter... still is ok in my shop area, but no longer "toasty warm".

My favorites are the baseboard convector types. No fan, no noise, nice warm room.
I connected a 1200W one to a line voltage wall thermostat to heat a bedroom and turned off an oil-fired steam radiator. It's perfect.

Very true *IF* the older heater still consumes 1500 Watts... as has been said here, "1500 Watts is 1500 Watts". The gotcha is that over time, some heaters (such as the "ceramic" models) increase in resistance and no longer draw 1500 Watts. Over 5 winters of use, one that I have has dropped to about 725 Watts, as measured on a kill-a-watt meter... still is ok in my shop area, but no longer "toasty warm".

jr

I have several of those type heaters. On one, The thermostat controls the heat output and it even controls the fan speed.
All the different makes, seem to be a little different.